The Prophecy of Hermes
by RurikoTsukuyomi
Summary: Acacia Woolf and her older brother, Tanek, are dragged into the biggest adventure of their life when they discover their destiny, meeting enemies, friends, cursed demigods, titans, and deformed monsters along the way! Rated to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to the sequel to **_**Roxie Belle and the Demigods**_**. New characters, new adventures, and a hidden prophecy?**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPAINS! RICK RIORDAN DOES! I also do not own any of the characters within this fan fiction, except the following:**

**Acacia Woolf**

**Tanek Woolf**

**Damon Woolf**

**Aileen Woolf**

**Mitsos Depp**

**Roxie Belle**

****

Chapter One: **Accessories Can Kill Monsters**

Quite frankly, my life was nothing special. I lived in a boring old house in Maine, United States with my step dad and older brother, Tanek. Me? My name is Acacia Woolf and this is how I was forced to believe that my father was some kind of weird, super powerful Greek god…

I worked in the diner in our small town that my step dad owned with my older brother. I slid a couple plates down the counter lazily before I handed a shake to my one and only best friend who I had just met recently.

Her name was Jacqueline Mancinelli, otherwise known as Jack. She was a navy haired girl with eyes like a kaleidoscope and she liked wearing this Blue Oyster Cult t-shirt along with a patched up windbreaker, normal blue jeans, and a newspaper boy's hat. She was basically a tomboy, somewhat like me, even if I did wear a bright blue headband. Well, used to until Jack bought me a pair of bright blue barrettes to hold back some of my dark red hair that was tied in a ponytail at the time.

"So," Jack mused, twisting her straw around in her shake, "By the sound of the jingling in your pocket, you've got some goodies." She flicked her pinkie at my black jeans and I grinned. She always knew when I had got done borrowing. And yea, by borrowing, I mean stealing. I didn't like that work, though, it made me sound like a bad person.

It wasn't my fault, my brother told me. He said I couldn't help being a kleptomaniac and I think he just said that to make himself feel better because he had almost the same problem, except he mostly stole geeky things, like cards for this dumb game called Mythomagic. He never played it, just he said he liked the cards and how shiny they were.

"Yea, I pulled a heist with Tanek yesterday at the mall and here's what I got!" I exclaimed and set down the metal tray, reaching into my pocket. I dropped the goods on the table, listening to them clink around. Jack raised an eyebrow at the pile.

A rubber band ball made up of glow-in-the-dark rubber bands, a twenty-dollar bill, a fancy wedding ring, and two gold coins that looked pretty weird. One side of the gold coin had the Empire State building while the other side had some bearded guy with a lightening bolt. He reminded me of that guy from Greek Mythology… Oh, what was his name…? Oh yea, Zeus, the big guy.

"Where did you get those?" Jack asked, perplexed as she pointed to the gold coins. I blinked owlishly, then shrugged and looked over my shoulder at Tanek, who was somewhere in back.

"Tanek! Tanek, where did we get those gold coins?" I called.

"What gold coins?" Tanek's boyish voice carried over the pots and pans. I sighed, flipping my hair over my shoulder and scowling at the back.

"Come out here, Tanek!" I commanded. There was some crashing of pots and pans before my older brother came out in a black polo shirt to match his jeans and apron. His hair was a reddish brown and shorter in back than in the front, but it came up to the nape of his neck in the back so it wasn't that short and his eyes were a sky blue, which always confused me since our mom's eyes were silver. He probably got it from our dad, whoever that loser was.

He walked over to the counter and looked down, then blinked and nodded, picking up one of the coins while Jack picked up the other. They looked like archeologists, just studying them. My brother cracked a smile, though, and set it down.

"We picked them up from some woman at the mall, shopping for her kid. She looked pretty rich, though, so no point in feeling bad about it. What's funny is, the guy on the back there has to be Zeus, from Greek Mythology, the God of Lightening and the Sky. His lightening bolts can cause six hundred damage and-"

"Tanek, you're embarrassing." I deadpanned, giving him a look. Tanek rolled his eyes, folding his arms over his chest before pointing a finger at the coins.

"It's hard to tell if it's real, though, but I don't want to risk my teeth. I just got those stupid braces off six months ago and I'm not ready for more." He stated. Jack continued to stare at the thing like it was the biggest discovery in the whole world.

"Acacia, Tanek… This is real gold. It's a drachma." She murmured in awe, then placed the coin in the table. I paled, staring at her. Tanek blinked and dropped his arms limply to his sides.

"Drachma? Isn't that Ancient Greek currency?" He managed to ask. Jack merely nodded, staring at the coins. Tanek and I stared at the coins as well for a long time, both of us probably thinking the same thing before we broke into grins and high-fived.

One of those times when Tanek and I really felt good about ourselves.

"This is great," Tanek exclaimed as he wrenched off his apron, tossing it at a coat rack in the corner and missing it by a foot, "Real gold! Gold's worth a whole lot, Acacia! A whole lot, enough to get us out of that old shack with Damon!"

"And more! We can more buy more fast food and more of those Mythomagic cards for your collection and a bigger tank for Neon!"

"And we can ditch this old dinner and-"

"Hey, you two," Jack protested, waving a hand between us and cocking an eyebrow before pulling her hat down a bit, "You two really have no idea how valuable those are in a, ah, different… Way. I'll explain it to you later." It was like she predicated that Tanek's annoying friend, Mitsos Depp, was going to walk in. He was a dark-haired older teenager with hazel eyes, but he had a huge long scar running through his left eye and never told me about it, but I guess he told Tanek because when I asked him, Tanek told me it was none of my business and he looked pretty sad about knowing. He always wore one of those beanie caps with the small duckbill and he wore it crookedly, matching his dark jeans and his MAINE sweatshirt.

"Hey, what's up, Tanek? Jack. Acacia…" His voice trailed after he said my name and he always smiled at me, but I just glared back at him and huffed. Tanek ignored the flirtatious attitude Mitsos broke and looked up, pointing at the coins.

"I think we're rich, Mitsos!"

"Think or know? Either way, I wanna know!" Mitsos exclaimed with a whistle and came over to the counter, plopping in a stool and peering over Jack's shoulder. He stared at the coins for a long time, glanced at Jack, who frowned, then back at Tanek and I.

"What's wrong?" I asked. The looks they were giving each other looked concerned. Tanek rolled his eyes, snatching up the coins and the twenty, shoving it into his jeans pocket.

"Oh, please. They're just interested in some of the share. We'll see how much we have left for you two." He retorted. I scowled.

"Tanek-"

"Come on, Acacia, Damon's probably wondering where we are. It's getting late."

"But, it's only eight-"

"NOW, Acacia."

"Fine, fine." I grumbled stubbornly and pulled my apron off, putting it on the coat rack and also taking the time to do that with Tanek's. Tanek went to the back room and I followed so we could empty out our lockers, but even from back there, I could hear Jack and Mitsos talking.

"It's just like the prophecy," I heard Jack whispering, "It's them and it's obviously they're his children. That skill doesn't come naturally to any other demigod."

"I know, I know, but how do we get them to camp? It's all the way in New York City and there's no way we can take the cab."

"We'll have to think of a way and fast."

I frowned and turned back around to see Tanek putting on a pair of black leather gloves as he scooped up his black messenger bag. The only color, other than his eyes and hair, was the orange pumpkin on his bag.

"Tanek, did you already lock the front?"

"Hm? Yea, why?"

"Let's leave through the back today."

"How come?"

"I have a weird feeling is all. Please?" I put on the best puppy pout I could manage and Tanek sighed.

"All right, are Jack and Mitsos gone?"

"Yup." I lied quickly. Tanek bought it and shrugged, gesturing for me to follow. We walked out the back after Tanek shut off the lights and shut the door behind him. As soon as he clicked the lock, the air outside seemed to get colder. Tanek frowned and looked up.

"Did you hear that?" He asked. I cocked a brow, folding my arms over my chest tightly.

"Hear what?" I asked. Tanek crinkled up his nose, something he did only when he was thinking really hard about something, concentrating.

"It sounded kind of like… I don't know, a really big snowball…" He murmured and his eyes suddenly widened.

"Acacia, duck!" He yelled and grabbed me around the waist, making me yelp in surprise as we hit the grimy parking lot. I winced as my elbows scraped on the dirty asphalt and I looked up as Tanek lifted himself off me, jerking his head up.

"No way." He managed. I frowned and went to question him, but I followed his wide-eyed gaze toward the window near the back entrance. It was busted open with a clean hole, from some kind of fired projectile.

"Gun?" I asked him, glancing up as he slowly rose to his feet. He held out his hand, jerking me up and brushing us both off as he scanned the darkness around the parking lot.

"No, not a gun. The hole's way too big… It… Something's out here." He said at last, his eyes wide. I stiffened and looked around quickly, clenching my fists and ready for anyone who'd be willing to risk coming at us both. I wasn't getting cocky or anything, but when Tanek and I fought together, we were basically unstoppable, which is why we got suspended a lot.

"We need to get back inside, fast."

"Ah, no, but, Tanek, we can't." I managed as he headed for the door. He fumbled for his keys, his eyes darting around after he sent me a weird look.

"And why not?"

"Well… I sort of… Maybe kind of a fibbed a little earlier. About Jack and Mitsos."

"Just what do you mean by that?" Tanek got that over-protective brotherly look about him, glaring at me as he stopped fumbling. I shifted from foot to foot, nervously tucking my hair behind my ear as I chewed on my lower lip, which tasted like my blueberry chap stick.

"Should we really be talking about this now? I mean, really-"

"Acacia! You know, you're so irresponsible sometimes."

"ME? Look who's talking Mr. I-Steal-Lame-o-Cards."

"They're not lame! Dionysus gets five hundred attacks points and his holofoil card-"

"NOT NOW, Tanek!" I shouted angrily and he opened his mouth to make more of his geeky comments when that same _WHIIIIISH_ sound exploded through the air. Tanek flinched and we both ducked, covering our heads as what looked like a huge spike shot through the door of the diner, busting the glass out. Tanek immediately jerked me close against his chest, covering my head from the glass. I winced watching as shards cut into his hand, drawing thick, dark droplets of blood.

"Youch! Come on, we need to get inside!"

"Tanek-"

"Now, Acacia!" He grabbed my arm and we hurriedly rushed into the diner, stumbling for a second when we heard a tapping sound. The lights flashed on, flooding us with white as we winced and blinked. Jack stood in the opening to the main dining area with a mechanical pencil tucked behind her ear and Mitsos standing beside her, a long black sword touching to the ground, almost like a cane or something.

"Nice job, running out on your own." Jack muttered dryly and looked at me. I stiffened as I felt three pairs of eyes lock on me.

"I'm sorry, but I heard you say something about a prophecy or something and demigods and a camp? Quite frankly, I thought we were trapped with a couple of psychos." I replied with a nervous shrug, reaching up to tuck my hair back behind my ear, but it just fell back over again. Jack sighed, rubbing her temples.

"Look, this is going to take a while to explain and we just don't have the time if _he's_ out there." She grumbled. Mitsos frowned, pushing off his sword and holding it up.

"All right, I'll go out there and stall. Jack, get these two back to their house and tell Damon that they're coming with us." He stated, heading for the back door, but Tanek grabbed his elbow.

"What the heck are you guys talking about? Stall what? Where are we going?" Tanek demanded. Mitsos stared at him.

"In that order? Life. Monster. Camp Half-Blood. Good luck, now go!" He commanded, nodding to Jack, who nodded in turn.

"Come on, you guys! We have to hurry! Your scent's probably drifted to more than just the manticore." She muttered as she led us to the front doors. Tanek undid the lock with the key, glaring at Jack.

"What are you talking about? None of this is making sense. And did you say manticore?" He asked, looking very unimpressed now. I frowned.

"What the heck is that?" I asked. Tanek rolled his eyes, but didn't open the door when Jack tried to. Instead, he kept his hand on it, keeping it shut and getting a dagger glare from Jack.

"A manticore is a fictional creature from Greek Mythology. He's part of the Mythomagic game too and gets-"

"This isn't a game, Tanek," Jack snapped firmly, "This is real life! If you don't believe me-"

"I don't, there's just no way. Whatever game you guys are playing is seriously not funny because this is Damon's diner, not ours and we can get in serious trouble if you guys don't stop the antics." Tanek snapped back. I cringed and started to open my mouth when there was a loud crash from behind us. We all whipped around in time to see Mitsos go flying through the back room and something scary appeared.

At first, I thought it was giant cat, but the closer I looked, the more I realized… I had to be going insane too. It had the face of a middle-aged man with silvery gray hair and brown eyes while his body was that of a gigantic lion. It had a huge leathery tail that flung back and forth, knocking down walls and counters and sending for a huge thorn-like object that exploded into a cupboard. My jaw dropped.

"N-No way… There's just no way…" I managed. Tanek even paled now and he grabbed my hand immediately like he did when we were little kids. I would have protested if I wasn't so scared that I was squeezing his hand right back.

"Run!" Jack yelled and jerked open the door. Tanek and I shared looks and had no choice, but to bolt after Jack into the cool late-winter air. Our sneakers smacked the pavement as we ran and the sound of the battle behind us was fading from loud explosions and clanging to faint crashes and booms.

"Jack, you have to explain what's going on! What the heck was that thing doing there? They're not real, there's no way…!" Tanek couldn't even spit it out as we ran down the sidewalk toward our house a couple blocks down. Jack panted as she sprinted ahead of us, removing her mechanical pencil from behind her ear and thrusting it downwards so it burst into a sword.

Now that was just freaking awesome.

"It's kind of hard! Look, in a nutshell, one of your parents was an Olympian! One of the Greek gods or goddesses and you're called a demigod! Monsters have a particular taste for us and they're always trying to eat us, especially those of us with strong scents, now hurry! I don't think Mitsos can hold that guy for long!" She explained hurriedly.

"That's unbelievable," Tanek protested, "You have no proof-"

"I'm sorry, would you like to turn back and take a closer look at the manticore to make sure it's worthy of your _proof_?" Jack demanded over her shoulder. Tanek didn't say anything else as we ran. Soon, our shabby old house came into view. It had partially been burnt down a while back, resulting in the death of our mother and our family dog, which left our step dad heartbroken and basically a clueless alcoholic. He hardly had money to pay for all the renovations on the house.

Jack led the way onto the porch, throwing the door open without even bothering to knock and barreling in. We followed quickly and were blasted with the warm scent of spaghetti and garlic bread. It made my stomach growl, but I guess there was no time for pit stops.

"Where's your step dad?" Jack demanded. Tanek visibly flinched.

"Damon. He's probably in the kitchen." He muttered. Jack nodded and we went into the kitchen where Damon was standing near the stove in a really ugly apron that read I LOVE COOKING on it with little food running around with faces. He was kind of young, mid to late thirties with dark hair and dark eyes. He turned around and looked at us in surprise, glaring a little.

"You guys, don't bring company over-"

"Mr. Woolf, I'm seriously very sorry, but this is important, highly important. Please tell me Aileen left you information on your stepchildren." Jack demanded. Damon stared at her, his mouth moving like a fish out of water for a moment before he set down the spatula and tore off the apron, frowning.

"Yes… Yea, Aileen left the information. Is it really time? Right now?" He asked, looking uneasy and maybe even more broken than he already looked. Jack frowned.

"Yes. We were attacked at your diner. They need to leave and they need to leave now, it's only a matter of time before that monster catches up with us." She informed. Damon nodded slowly, then went to the nearby closet. He started to dig through it like his life depended on it. Tanek waved his hands, glaring at Damon.

"Wait, wait, wait! You're not honestly playing along with this!" He protested angrily. Damon didn't look at him, neither of us as he kept his head in the closet, throwing it out in a frantic.

"I'm sorry, Tanek, but your mother said it was better that you guys didn't know! The more you know, the more monsters you attract!" He called.

"There's just no way," Tanek decided, as if he wasn't listening to anything Jack, or Damon were even saying, "This is just ridiculous. If this is just your idea of trying to get rid of us because you're too much of a lazy bum, then it sucks! You could've just…" His voice trailed as Damon pulled out two bags from the closet and I noticed just now that his dark eyes were covered in a film of crystal tears. I blinked.

"Damon…?" I asked, confused. Damon came over to us, handing us the bags quickly, zipping them open and throwing random things from a drawer in; a bottle of some weird liquid, some yellow squares of… Something, Oreos, MickeyD coupons, just really random stuff.

"I really didn't want this day to come," Damon said as he packed the things into the bag, "Believe me, I didn't… I've already lost two of my wives, I've lost my own son, my job in New York. I'm not going to lose you two. I won't let it happen. I know this is all sudden and you're scared, I know, but Jacqueline here will take care of you. She knows what she's doing, right?" He looked at Jack, who nodded confidently, but she looked a little sad. Damon zipped up our bags. Tanek was at a loss for words now, I could tell by the way he was just staring at our stepfather with big blue eyes.

"I wish you could call me, but there's no electronics allowed at camp, but I'll try and visit when I can. You guys have to be careful. Acacia, remember to brush your teeth and stop stealing things from people at the bus stops, okay? Tanek, don't forget to eat and for the gods' sakes, take care of your little sister. Okay, I think that's everything…." He waited, staring at us both as we stared back, both confused. It was all happening so fast and I felt like he was really sending us off, but the tears in his eyes and the fact that he kissed us both on the head said otherwise.

"Mr. Woolf, I hope you have a car we can borrow. It's a long way to Long Island, New York." Jack stated. Damon nodded, wiping at his eye uneasily as he reached into his baggy jeans pocket, tossing her the keys to his old Ford truck.

"Please, be careful." He said. Jack nodded to him.

"We will, sir. We'll contact you as soon as we have them safe at camp. There's no need to worry. Incidents like this are a lot more common now." She assured, but that didn't seem to help the worry on Damon's face. He just nodded and watched us as Jack took us by the wrist, dragging us out to the dark blue truck. Jack got in the drivers' seat with me in between her and Tanek as he shut the door like a robot.

Jack started the engine and we roared out of the driveway. I looked behind us out the window to see Damon standing out on the porch, watching us drive away. I turned back around slowly, my silver eyes wide in confusion and hurt.

"Jack… Who are you?" I asked, looking at her. She frowned as she watched the road and sidewalks, probably looking for Mitsos.

"My name is Jacqueline Mancinelli and I am a daughter of Aphrodite. I was sent here with Mitsos Depp, son of Nemesis, to obtain two demigod children known for their kleptomania." She explained as she drove along. I looked back at my lap, then out the windshield in time to see something dart across the street. My eyes flashed.

"Look out!" I shouted. Jack hit the breaks and we all flung forward. I heard Tanek curse as Jack stopped the truck, just in time to see Mitsos come bolting across the street, waving his black sword around.

"Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap," He was yelling, "That thing is so freaking annoying and huge! I swear, one more stupid correction about my grammar and that thing is so dead!" He came on Tanek's side and threw open the door. Tanek and I both winced as Mitsos smashed in with us. Thank goodness Mitsos was rail thin or else we'd be completely crushed.

"Where is it now? Can we out run it?" Jack demanded as she started up the truck again. Mitsos looked behind us, around us, in front like a frantic rabbit as he held his sword across his lap. The cold flat of the blade touched the top of my hand, making my eyes widen and jerk my hand away.

"I don't know, let's find out! Drive!" He commanded. Jack scowled, but she hit the gas and we flew down the road. Behind us was the faint sound of an animalistic roar before the only sound was the rumbling of the truck and _Percussion Gun_ on the radio. We sat in silence, Mitsos panting for a little bit before he threw his head back on the seat, closing his eyes to rest. My eyelids were just starting to feel heavy as the sky turned pale blue and orange, signaling that sun was rising at it was almost morning. I rested my head on Tanek's shoulder and he didn't look the least bit tired, just confused and maybe just a bit angry.

"Wait, is all this why you guys were freaking out about those coins?" I asked, sitting up after a while Jack shrugged.

"Drachmas are pretty useful when you want to send Iris-messages or packages through Hermes." She answered.

"This is unbelievable." Tanek said again. I elbowed him a little, glaring.

"Tanek, Damon was freaking out, these two are freaking out, we were attacked by an oversized kitten, and we're riding off toward some camp. I think it's starting to get a little more realistic… Even though we don't want it to." I added under my breath. Tanek just scowled and hunched his shoulders a bit, glaring at his lap.

"I know it's a lot to take in," Mitsos sighed, "But you'll get used to it after a while. I freaked out so bad when I found out that when they took me to camp, I ran away, of course, with harpies, you hardly get anywhere."

"Harpies?" I asked, confused. Mitsos nodded.

"They're kind of like the guards… And clean up crew of the camp. We also have pegasi, Nero's big mutt, Rex- Jeez, that guy is annoying. I thought he was bad when he was just a puppy."

"He's still a puppy." Jack retorted.

"Yea, a big puppy, about the size of a bus puppy." Mitsos snorted. I stared at them in confusion. A dog the size of a bus? That was freaking weird! And so was the thought that pegasi could actually exist. I was starting to feel like Tanek, unable to let all this process correctly.

"This is so weird." I said at last. Mitsos shrugged. Jack drove off onto an exit ramp as we neared New York. The radio was began to play _Monster_ by Skillet and I felt like falling asleep, but Tanek kept jumping in his sleep, so I gave up.

"He looks like he's having a nightmare." Mitsos muttered. Jack grimaced.

"That's not good… We have to get to Camp Half-Blood faster, but this old truck isn't built for the speed." She grumbled, gently patting her foot up and down on the gas. I frowned.

"What's wrong with nightmares? He has them all the time." I replied. Jack and Mitsos stared at me. I blinked, shifting uncomfortably.

"What?" I asked uneasily. The way they were staring at me told me, no, it wasn't normal to have nightmares. I asked and Mitsos answered as Jack had to hurriedly look back at the road to avoid a head-on collision with a semi-truck.

"It's not good if a demigod has a nightmare," Mitsos began calmly, "It usually means something, some of it being true. You could have a nightmare about Rex taking a giant crap and next day, he could do it."

"A) That's gross," I muttered, making Mitsos shrug and Jack roll her eyes, "And B) Isn't that basically telling the future? Because now you're starting to sound very unconvincing with all this demigod stuff." Mitsos sighed as he leaned back in his seat, then looked at me. The scar on his face suddenly seemed a bit older, rougher.

"Look, it's easy to understand. You're both children of a Greek god. And if you're the children of who we think you are, then you might just be burdened more than you think-"

"All right, that's enough explaining for now," Jack interrupted sternly, glaring at Mitsos out the corner of her eye, making the boy shrug innocently, "We need to get them past the borders of the camp and hopefully by the time we touch the borders, they'll be claimed. At least, that's how it goes."

"And if it doesn't?" I asked. Jack frowned.

"You'll be undetermined, but that's not supposed to happen. Our last undetermined…" Her voice trailed. I stared at her waiting, but she didn't continue, so I frowned and looked at her curiously.

"Your last undetermined what?" I asked. Jack sighed, frustrated, but said nothing as she continued to drive. Mitsos frowned, then shrugged as he kicked his feet up onto the dashboard, making Jack scowl at him.

"Our last undetermined wasn't exactly undetermined, she was just claimed by the enemy… But she got what was coming to her." He answered. I grimaced.

"That's not nice." I mumbled.

"Neither was she." Mitsos replied.

"You didn't know her." Jack countered. Mitsos rolled his eyes as he dropped his feet and leaned forward, glancing over Tanek and I to look at Jack with a cocked brow.

"I didn't need to know her. She broke so many rules and not to mention, she got you in trouble taking you on that quest to find out who her father was. And after all that, she ended up getting cursed. A bad curse for us demigods." He drawled as if he were the smartest kid in the world. That highly irritated me about Mitsos. It made me wonder if all children of Nemesis were like that.

I blinked and mentally smacked myself. No way, I couldn't be believing this. I mean, there had to be an explanation as to why that huge manticore looking thing attacked Damon's diner. Maybe it was some kind of mutant, genetically altered thing that- I had no idea what I was thinking about. It made me cringe and want to stop thinking.

I had a good excuse because as we neared a wooded area, somewhere on Long Island, something slammed right into the truck in the back. We all lunged forward and Tanek was jolted awake, panic flaring in his blue eyes.

"What happened? Where the heck are we?" He demanded, turning around in his seat to look around. I did the same and my eyes widened. Tanek paled, his blue eyes turning into huge pools of blue as his lips parted, but no sound came out. I was probably looking the same because charging up behind us was a weird looking old man with the body of a lion and a huge gross looking tail covered in thorns; one of said thorns being flung forward.

"Duck!" Tanek commanded me and he jerked me down. Jack tried to swerve and the spike shot through the back window and out the windshield in front, both windows bursting out of the panes into shards. Jack jerked the wheel and we went flying right over a ditch and into the woods. We bumped up and down and around in the car. I yelped as my head hit the ceiling and Tanek's elbow went into my gut.

We heard a vicious roar from behind us and Mitsos was squirming to turn around.

"I need help!" He shouted against the roaring and shrieking of the wind as he wiggled into the truck through the bust window, probably cutting himself.

"Acacia, take the wheel!" Jack ordered. I yelped as she jerked my hands onto the steering wheel, whipping around to go through the window. A tree was coming up in front of us and I jerked to the right, making Tanek slam into the car door while Jack and Mitsos teetered in the trunk of the truck.

I jerked and turned to dodge trees and fallen logs, Tanek yelling at me to turn left, right, left right. My mind was whirling and I yelped every time we hit a huge bump. Tanek grabbed onto the edges of the seat, gritting his teeth and wincing. There was a yell and I looked in the review mirror to see Jack slash at the manticore's tail, just as a thorn flung from its tail.

"Come, little demigods, is there really a reason for you to keep fighting? Come, stand still and let me devour you!" The manticore roared and lunged forward at Mitsos, but he spun around and slashed his sword across the manticore's old face, causing blood to spew out like a fan across Jack and Mitsos's clothing. The manticore shrieked in pain and swung its tail forward into the trunk. Jack shouted something at me, but I didn't catch it as she was thrown off the truck along with Mitsos, who barked out several curses in some other language, but I somehow knew it was very bad.

The truck went tumbling over and Tanek had his arms around me in an instant, yelling at me to hang on. I gripped the steering wheel and squeezed my eyes shut, screaming as my body crashed around inside the truck. Pain exploded in my head, arms, legs, ribs, everywhere. Finally, the car stopped rolling near a hill in the woods. Tanek coughed weakly and struggled to move. I could only suck in shaky breathes, pain numbing my every limb. The truck was on its side and crumpled up like my math homework, metal sticking out in random places.

"The door… Acacia, get out…" Tanek managed to groan. I gave him a weak nod and fumbled for the door, pushing it open. With Tanek's help, I was slowly getting to my feet and peering out. I didn't see Jack nor Mitsos… Or the manticore. It looked safe.

I pulled myself up, heaving Tanek up after me. We were both cut up pretty badly, bruises dotting our skin. Tanek had a huge gash running from just under his right eye to the base of his neck, his eyes a bit dimmed like he was dizzy or confused.

"Tanek, are you okay?" I asked quietly, holding the side of my head near my temple and pulling my hand back to see blood. Tanek glanced up and noticed the blood on me, his eyes filling with a new light, but I could tell it was hysteria.

"Acacia! Oh my god, are you all right? You're bleeding, oh god, what did I do?" He held my face in his hands, staring at me with those wide blue eyes. I tried to smile, but a cut in my cheek made me wince.

"Tanek, it's okay, you didn't do anything. I didn't see that-that thing coming…"

"I was supposed to take care of you! And I let you get hurt! I let you get hurt, oh god, we have to find a hospital find-find-"

"Tanek!" I grabbed his face in my hands, avoiding the gash on his face and he stopped, staring at me. I glared at him firmly and bit into my lip for a second before I jerked him into a hug and held onto him. I wanted to cry for a while, from the pain, from the confusion, everything, but I managed to keep somewhat calm as Tanek finally hugged me back tightly, almost crushing the air right out of my lungs. Our moment of piece didn't last long as a cackle echoed through the air. Tanek and I scrambled to the ground on our feet, staring at the top of the wooded hill to see the manticore slinking up between the trees with a wide grin on his old face.

"How cute, siblings that actually care for one another… Ah, hopefully you can do the same… While being digested!" The manticore chortled as he got closer. Now, I knew I wasn't dreaming. That thing, that huge manticore thing was real as anything I ever thought as only real. It's stinking rotten breath curled around me like a thick fog and I wanted to puke, but I swallowed the bile enough to speak.

"Who-Who are you? What do you want from us?" I demanded shakily. Tanek flinched and went to shush me, but the manticore chuckled."Who am I? My name is Phil, although, that shouldn't matter to you brats as your time as come. The children of-" The manticore cut off, his eyes flashing and widening as a rock hit him right in the back of the head. He roared and whipped around, hissing. Jack and Mitsos stood at the top of the hill now; Jack holding another big rock in her fist, her sword in her other hand while Mitsos wiped blood from his face, his sword resting on his shoulder.

"Back off, kiddies! I called dibs first!" Phil barked.

"Shove off, ugly!" Jack retorted and chucked the rock just in time to collide with one of the thorns thrown by Phil's spiked tail. Phil snarled, then whipped around faster than I could think, lunging at Tanek and I.

"ACACIA! Your barrettes, take them off, quick, and touch the pointed ends together! NOW!" Jack shouted down at me. I stared up at her like she was crazy, but my body was moving before I could. I unclipped the blue barrettes from my hair, letting it fall like a curtain as I brought the things forward, touching the ends together.

For a frightening moment, nothing happened as Phil reached his claws out to grab us, but then the barrettes glowed a bright blue and flashed. They swirled into a pair of black daggers with bronze handles, the metal cool and comfortable in my hands. I blinked in surprise, then looked up as Phil was basically over top me.

"Acacia!" Tanek cried. In that moment, I thrust the daggers upwards together right into Phil's gut. Phil's eyes bulged and his mouth popped open in a silent scream before he roared and stumbled back. He crumpled to the ground and burst into a pile of dust. I stood staring in pure shock at the pile of dust that billowed away in the wind. There was silence until I heard Jack and Mitsos gasp. I looked up to see them pointing and an eerie glow seemed to be emitting from over my head as well as Tanek's.

A warm, reddish orange glow emitted from a gently swirling caduceus. I didn't know what that meant, but Tanek did. He just stared, his eyelids fluttering a little.

"That symbol…"

"What…? Tanek, what's wrong?"

"It's one of the symbols of Hermes, the God of Thieves, Travelers, and Messengers."

****

**A/N: Phew, that was a lot of work. Hopefully this is a good first chapter. I'm trying to improve on details and the way the characters think. So, hopefully I'm doing good in that department. I'll need your guys' help through reviews, so if you want more details, just tell me! It can be battle scenes, thought processes, etc. I have to make my writing better :) Anyway, yup! A son and daughter of Hermes :P I thought it'd be cool since I know quite a bit about Hermes to begin with. So, thanks for reading, hope the characters sound right, and if you want to submit an OC, just PM me a bio and I'll find a place for them! Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chaaaaaapter TWO! WOO O:!**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS! RICK RIORDAN DOES! I also do not own any of the characters within this fan fiction, except the following:**

**Acacia Woolf**

**Tanek Woolf**

**Damon Woolf**

**Aileen Woolf**

**Mitsos Depp**

**Roxie Belle**

****

Chapter Two: **My First Day At Camp Fails**

I know I blacked out after Tanek had said that the symbols that were floating above our heads belonged to the Greek god, Hermes. It was all too much. The Greek mythology, monsters, car accident, leaving my step dad behind, seeing Tanek hurt. It was like someone plunged their fist right into my gut after telling me I was going to die tomorrow.

I woke up in what felt like a hospital bed. I lolled my head to the sides a couple times before I opened my eyes slowly, tiredly. I wasn't sore anymore and my mouth tasted like I had just swallowed a huge lump of Christmas fudge that my mom used to make. I smacked my lips and licked them hungrily at the flavor. My vision focused so that I was staring up at a wooden ceiling with rafters and some rope latched between them.

I blinked a couple times, then shifted, sitting up slowly. I scooted in the hospital bed to stare around in shock. I think I was going to faint again. Walking around were a couple of guys, their bottom halves made up of goat rump and legs with a little stubby tail that flicked about. One of them was playing what looked like a lyre and there was a girl with pale green skin, giggling as she clung to him. A couple of other kids were in the hospital beds, some of them arguing about some kind of battle, but the sight that scared me the most, was Tanek, who was in the bed next to mine.

He was still unconscious, his lips parted slightly and a tray on the nightstand next to his bed with an empty glass and pink straw. His blankets were pulled up to his chest with his arms laid out over top of them. I stared at him, then scrambled out of bed, but a hand went on my chest, making me blink in surprise.

"Whoa, hold on there," One of the goat-guys warned, "You're still not strong enough to go running around." I stared at him. He looked pretty weird and different than most of the other goat guys. He had chocolate colored hair fitted under a dark beanie cap and there were holes cut out in the sides to make room for his curling horns.

"What…? What the heck are you?" I managed to ask. The guy pouted a little bit, folding his arms over his chest, the piercing in his nose glittering.

"I'm a satyr! The name's Max! Max Trival, Miss. Woolf. I'm here on behalf of Chiron, who's sort of busy with Mr. D at another pinochle game, which I think is kind of pointless since Chiron wins a lot. Ah, don't tell Mr. D I said that." He added with a wince, reaching up to finger the piercing in his nose. I frowned, then reached up to hold the side of my head.

"This is a really creepy dream." I decided. I mean, none of this could possibly exist. Goat boys? Giant old men lion things? My barrettes turning into swords? I reached up and felt my barrettes neatly placed in my hair. I pulled them out and stared at them for a while.

"Hey, hey, now," Max protested, "Don't go taking out your weapons here."

"You know?" I asked, confused. Max nodded and pointed a finger at them, but from a distance, like, near his shoulder distance.

"Of course, I do. Lord Hermes made those himself. Special for one of his daughters." He replied. I stared at him, then dropped the barrettes to the floor, standing up and shaking my head.

"No way, this is all impossible. Hermes isn't my dad." I stated. Max glanced up at the sky, then back at me with a little bit of a scowl.

"Hey, now, don't be rude. Hermes is one of the nicer gods. He's already broken up about his son, Luke, dying." He muttered dryly. I frowned."Wait, what? I thought Tanek and I were his kids."

"You are. And so was Luke. And so is Travis, and Conner, and-"

"This is unbelievable," I stated, glaring at him, "He can't possibly have that many kids! My mom-"

"Gods have countless mortal relationships. Hermes is popular amongst people because of his kinder personality. It helps when he's, ah, borrowing certain items. Just ask Apollo, who threw a little hissy fit over some stolen cows."

"Huh?"

"You've never heard the tale? Hasn't your mom told you any myths?" Max asked, confused as he put his fists on his furry hips. I shifted a bit uncomfortable, trying to think back on it, shaking my head slowly. As far as I knew, my mother only told us _normal_ things about our father when she was alive. She said he was kind and caring. They took a lot of trips together and even visited places like France and Japan. From the stories, she made our real dad sound like he really loved her and only her, no one else in the world. That didn't sound like this god that Max kept talking about.

"That's weird… Most parents give hints by telling myths. Are you positive your mother said nothing about it?"

"She's dead." I blurted, then winced as I watch Max's expression twist into embarrassment.

"Oops." Max blushed, shuffling his hooves together. Hooves. Yea, not feet. Hooves, I couldn't wrap my mind around that. The more I looked around this place, the more I felt like I was at home. I mean, it was still pretty freaking weird, but most of the kids who walked by smiled and gave some waves, others just saluting or nodding. I actually kind of liked the homey feeling, but at the same time, I felt like none of it was real. Too good to be true, yet too scary at the same time. It was so hard to explain. Max sighed, making me look up to see that he was watching Tanek sleep.

"He's out cold. Mitsos had to carry him into camp. All the stuff that happened, I'm sure it probably scared you guys out of your minds… If you want, I can give you a tour. Maybe by the time we get back, your brother will be awake." He offered. I frowned, then looked over at Tanek. He looked calmer in his sleep, no signs of nightmares either, which was pretty comforting. He only moved once, lolling his head to the side and muttering something about cheap muffins that we sold at the diner. It made me smile a bit. I looked back at Max, who was looking at me expectantly.

"I guess so… If you promise he'll be okay here and none of those weird monsters will come by." I agreed reluctantly. Max nodded.

"Cool, and don't worry about those monsters. The camp is protected by a magic barrier to keep out monsters, like that manticore that attacked you." He assured. I nodded, then scooped up my barrettes, sticking them back in as I followed Max out, giving Tanek one last glance before I walked out the door.

As soon as I stepped out of that infirmary, life got even weirder. Outside was like any old camp you'd see, except for the actual mini-battles going on, out of whack pranks going on, outrageously cute guys, and magic tricks. Everyone was wearing a killer bright orange t-shirt that read in black letters: CAMP HALF-BLOOD. I remembered Jack saying that name a couple times on the way here. This must be that freakish camp.

Max showed me the arts and crafts building, a large pavilion where he said we'd be having lunch soon. He showed me the arena where several people were sparring, some using swords, other using bows and arrows, daggers, you name it. Next was the armory where a bunch of tough looking kids were hammering swords into shape, molding shields and armor. It was pretty impressive because a couple of those kids were younger than me, maybe eleven or ten. The stables were one of my favorite parts on the tour. Pegasi tromped around in their stables, some being led out by other campers.

He showed me the strawberry fields next where satyrs were playing their lyres, leading huge armies of ants and bugs away while other campers picked the strawberries pretty quickly, almost like the strawberries were jumping off the vines and hopping into the buckets.

The Big House was next, a huge fancy building with a nice outer porch where I saw a couple demigods walking along and inside. There was a volleyball court and a huge place called an amphitheater, then the climbing wall. Lastly, Max took me to the cabins.

They were arranged in a giant lopsided U. Max pointed to all the cabins, listing them off one by one: Zeus, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, Demeter, Aphrodite, Ares, Dionysus, Hephaestus, Morpheus, Nemesis, Eros, Hermes. The names went on, but my eyes stayed locked on the Hermes cabin. It was the most normal of all the cabins, a bit old with worn down front steps and brown paint faded a little, some parts peeling. Over the doorway was the same symbol that was hovering over mine and Tanek's head last night, the caduceus. Max gestured me over to follow him, but I was getting a bit uneasy as he opened the door to reveal a large number of bunk beds, making it look like huge evacuation center.

"Travis! Conner!" Max called into the room past a group of kids huddled near the door. They scuttled away, snickering and holding what looked like a sleeping bag covered in blue powder and something inside me said 'Ohhh, that looks like a sleeping poison'. I wanted to smack myself, but a pair of boys were coming up to Max and I. Their hair was a bit curly and brown, their eyes a bright blue, almost like Tanek's, I noticed. It made me blink in surprise. For a second, I thought they were twins, but I noticed that their facial structures were a bit different.

"Newbie?" Travis asked curiously, grinning at me. Max nodded.

"This is Acacia Woolf. She's another daughter of Hermes, her brother, Tanek, too, but he's sort of in the infirmary." He added flatly. Conner sighed with relief.

"Good thing. For some reason, I keep getting this feeling that some day, it's going to go back to 'undetermined or claimed'. Now _that_ was getting annoying." He pointed out with a nod. Travis rolled his eyes, smirking and giving Conner a pat on the back before turning to me, thrusting out a hand.

"The name's Travis Stoll! This here's Conner. We're the head counselors of Cabin Eleven!" He declared. I went to shake his hand, but stopped when I felt this tingling sensation in my fingertips and when I looked at Travis's hand, I could faintly make out a metal hand buzzer. Oh, that was lame. I looked up at him with a cocked brow and instead put a hand on his chest to give him a little push.

"We're not shaking hands."

"Darn it." Travis grumbled.

"She's good. Better than the other newbies that show up. Looks like your plot was foiled." Conner snickered, then smiled warmly at me and took my hand, shaking it, but there was no hand buzzer, thank the gods…

The gods.

It made me blink to think that that was how I'd be saying it from now on. I nodded to him slowly, then Max put a hand on my shoulder.

"Well, boys, she'll be back later with her brother. Right now, we should go check on the little guy. Don't forget! Inspections today and it's Athena's turn this time, so clean up the Doritos! And get those juice boxes off the floor." Max called out to everyone. Travis and Conner sighed, shaking their heads before turning and ordering people to get back to work. They seemed okay, you know, for older half-brothers… It made me want to smile a little bit, actually. I had always wanted a big family. I guess this was my wish.

Max led me back to the sick room and Tanek was still asleep. I sighed and got permission to sit by his bedside. I leaned on the edge of the bed, my chin in my hand as my elbow rested on the bed as I toyed with the corner of his sheets for a while, thoughtlessly touching my barrettes every so often.

"I like your barrettes!" A voice exclaimed. I blinked and looked up to see a girl with sea green eyes, her blonde hair highlighted with blue streaks. She wore the camp shirt and a pair of dark purple skinny jeans with jewels going up one of the legs, an iPod sticking out of a silvery belt on her waist.

"Uhm… Thanks…" I mumbled. The girl smiled a bit, then looked over at Tanek, her smile melting.

"Oh… He your brother?"

"Yea."

"Sorry… What're your names? What about your parent?"

"Uh, my name's Acacia Woolf, his name's Tanek… I… Our dad… Is… Well… Hermes." I managed to get out and it sounded so weird to say that. It made me crinkle up my nose in distaste. I wonder how that'd look on a job application. I could see the scene playing in my head. 'Yes, hi. I'd like to apply for a job… Hm? Oh, my father? Yea, he's the all powerful god of messengers, travelers, and thieves, Hermes.' It sounded way too silly, not even a monster would take that seriously. However, this girl just smiled.

"That's cool. My name's Taylor Jackson. I'm a daughter of Poseidon. Judging by that look, you're new here. That's all right. I remember when I first came here. I had a heck of a time trying to believe anything they were telling me." She muttered dryly, leaning on the end of the bed on the post. I blinked, then looked at her.

"Poseidon…? He's the god of the sea, right?"

"Yup. One of the Big Three; Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. My brothers, Percy and Tyson, are also children of Poseidon. I've got a couple friends from the Hades cabin, Nico and Nero. And one from the Zeus cabin, Alex. You should definitely meet them. After lunch, maybe I can take you and your brother around to meet all my friends." Taylor explained with a warm smile. I had to smile back. It was nice of her to suggest it, definitely different from the several schools Tanek and I attended. Most everyone had already heard of our reputation at the other schools and just scorned us, padlocking all their stuff… As if that helped any.

If anyone could pick a lock, it was Tanek. That was how he got a good amount of his Mythomagic cards, 'borrowing' them from the snooty geeks at school who could afford the figurines and holofoil cards.

"That'd be nice." I replied. Taylor beamed.

"Great! I can't wait! Well, I should get back to flying lessons. See ya later, tell your brother I said hi." She winked and was out of the room in a flash and I noticed that the salty smell of the sea seemed to follow after her, whirling out the doors before the smell of sterile objects and home baked cookies plunged back. I sighed, then jumped when I heard a little groan. My eyes widened and locked on Tanek, who shifted in his bed.

He grimaced, then slowly opened his eyes that seemed a deep dark blue before glowing bright and sky-colored. He blinked a few times, then shot upright, wincing a bit. I winced too and grabbed his arm gently.

"Tanek, calm down. Don't move so fast." I scolded. Tanek blinked, then stared at me.

"Acacia? What happened? The weirdest dream…" His voice trailed as he seemed to be walking a satyr gallop on by, giving us a quick wave before he vanished out the doors. Tanek looked like he was going to pass out again, but I hugged him tightly.

"Stay awake, dummy. You'll never believe all this… I'm still having trouble believing it all." I admitted as I pulled back. He stared at me, then let his eyes scan the place.

"This is… This can't be real… None of it. The monster-"

"Manticore."

"-thing and-and Jack and Mitsos… The truck. Your barrettes."

"It all happened, Tanek… It's all real." I murmured, coming to the realization myself. It was pretty overwhelming at first, and for some reason, now I felt like going with the flow, getting mellow and calm. Tanek looked pale now, leaning on the headboard of the sickbed, his blue eyes staring at the ceiling.

"Then that symbol…"

"Yea… Hermes is our dad."

"That sounds so weird."

"I'll say. Hermes. Hermes. Max told me that I should quit saying their names like that, something about it being powerful and kind of dangerous, but it's hard not to say their names. It just rolls right off your tongue." I admitted with a shrug. Tanek stared at me, still looking confused, but slowly nodded and closed his eyes tightly.

"Hermes… Are there… Others here?"

"Yea. Max gave me a whole tour of the place…" I explained to Tanek everything Max had shown me from the pegasi stables to our cabin, the one we were going to be sleeping in tonight with all those other people. Our half-siblings. I told him about Travis and Conner, about Max being a satyr, and about the guy he mentioned named Chiron. When I said his name, Tanek stared at me with wide eyes.

"Chiron? Really? I wonder if it's the same one…"

"Eh?"

"Jeez, you need to pay more attention in Mythology class. Chiron. He's a legendary trainer of all heroes, including Hercules and Achilles. He's also the son of the Titan Lord, Kronos, also the Lord of Time. He's a centaur, which is a man with the bottom half of a horse. He's pretty useful in Mythomagic…"

"That's good to know." A voice stated. Tanek and I both jumped, yelping and looking up to see a man entering. No, not a full man. Part man, with the bottom half of a horse, just like Tanek said. Now I was really starting to believe all this psychotic nonsense. Because, I mean, seriously! The guy standing in front of me was a freaking centaur! He had a thick beard and very kind eyes, his horse half white as his tail flicked from side to side. He wore a Party Ponies 2008 shirt and a bow and arrow was strapped onto his back.

"Y-Y-You're…" Tanek couldn't even spit it out, so I picked up where he left off.

"You're Chiron!" I blurted. The centaur smiled gently at us as he came up to the end of the bed.

"It's good to see that the ambrosia worked in curing you. You had a pretty harsh wound across your face." He told Tanek, who couldn't even speak now, his mouth doing that thing that Damon's did; opening and closing like a fish out of water.

"What's ambrosia?" I asked, confused. Chiron went to answer, but Tanek finally got his voice back and began to babble.

"Ambrosia's the food of the gods, meant to heal, but any mortal who eats it is supposed to burst into flames and ash. Nectar is another part of the meal that the Greek and Roman gods had, supposedly having the same results as ambrosia, but I don't understand! I mean, if-if we ate that stuff, doesn't that mean…?" Chiron smiled lightly, a little sadly actually.

"It means you aren't exactly mortal. You're half human… Half god." I think Tanek was going to faint again, so I smacked his hand to keep him awake. He jumped a little, then looked down at his lap, reaching a bandaged hand up through his hair, the heel of his palm against his forehead.

"There's no way this is happening." He murmured.

"I assure you that you're not dreaming, nor going insane," Chiron seemed to shift uncomfortably when he said that before continuing, "You're not alone, however. You have your sister and everyone here at the camp. They're all demigods as well, one of their parents a mortal while the other is a god or goddess of Olympus. It's not an easy task as I won't lie to you, but it becomes less troublesome if you have people around you willing to assist. This camp will allow you to train and work hard at protecting yourself and surviving, even becoming heroes."

"Like… Hercules?" I asked. Chiron shrugged, then nodded, like he was saying 'eh, maybe not like Hercules, but yea'. I looked at Tanek and he seemed to have calmed down a bit now, his eyelids going back to their lazy selves. He blinked a couple times before looking in the other direction. I looked back at Chiron.

"So… What are you doing at this camp?" I asked. Chiron smiled, his tail flicking about.

"I am the activities director. I'll help you both find fitting schedules and get comfortable at your cabin as well as your daily routines and the rules and regulations of the camp." He explained. I nodded slowly, then remembered another name that Max had mentioned.

"What about a guy named Mr. D? Who's he?" I asked. Chiron smiled weakly now, reaching up to stroke his beard a little.

"Ah, Mr. D… He is the director of the camp. You'll be introduced to him at lunch time, I assure you. For now, you two may rest until lunch. Once the horn blows, you report to the pavilion with your cabin, Cabin Eleven. I'm sure Max showed you?"

I nodded and Chiron nodded back.

"Excellent. Well, welcome to Camp Half-Blood, children of Hermes. I pray you find good fortune here." He still had this hint of sadness to his voice. Maybe it was just the way he was, after watching centuries, decades, a whole millennia or maybe more pass. Or it could be that he had just found out that his goldfish died or something weird like that. I looked at Tanek, who yawned a little and licked his lips nervously.

"Tanek, are you okay?" I asked quietly. He looked at me for a while, then away, shrugging.

"Yea, sure… I mean, I only just found out that our real dad is the Greek god, Hermes, and that all their hocus pocus mythology is more than just a card game and that I could've been turned into a pile of dust from eating that weird ambrosia stuff." He answered sarcastically. I scowled and flicked him in the shoulder, making him huff stubbornly.

"Don't be like that!" I scolded, then shook my head and got to my feet when I heard the faintest sound of a horn blowing. Tanek frowned, then cocked a brow at me.

"Where are you going? What was that?" He asked.

"Lunchtime."

Tanek was intrigued as we met up with our cabin. I was beginning to like this idea, whether it was some crazy dream or not. Our half-siblings met up with us, some of them snickering because apparently they pulled a prank on the Aphrodite and Apollo cabins. Something about an itching powder in their shirts. It was proven to be a fact when we arrived at the pavilion to see two whole tables squirming and itching. The entire Hermes cabin laughed at this, even I snickered, although Tanek just rolled his eyes and muttered something about immaturity. As if he was one to talk.

"Real funny, you losers!" A guy from the Apollo cabin snapped, scratching at his back while an Aphrodite girl wailed about a broken nail from scratching her leg through her tights. That only seemed to make Cabin Eleven laugh more. Other campers were beginning to snicker in amusement too until some guy's voice boomed out over the tables. He was stumpy Santa. Except, he didn't have a huge bushy white beard and bushy white hair. Instead, his hair was curly and black and he seemed highly entertained by the glass of whatever in his hand before he looked back up past a pair of sunglasses, revealing very purplish eyes. It made me stare.

"All right, all you kids and troublemakers, sit down so we can get on with this troublesome schedule. _The Hangover_'s going to be on tonight at nine and I don't want to miss it." He explained. Everyone shared looks and sat down. Tanek and I sat by Travis and Conner, and a boy named Cyril, who was sneaking spoons into his baggy jeans pockets. When I asked him about it, he just shook his head, making his sandy blonde hair flip about, saying something about a heist. I didn't understand, but didn't bother to ask. The man at the front table, who I guessed was Mr. D, continued talking.

"So, let's see, updates… Eh, Chiron, our camp's activities director, says capture the flag will take place Saturday night, unfortunately, which is when they have a show on the making of Pac-man. Last week's winner was Athena's cabin, so, yay, yippee for you guys." He paused to take a gulp of diet coke, I guessed. Tanek glanced at me as if to say 'who the heck is this guy' and I only shrugged. Truth be told, I had no idea who he was.

"We have a couple new campers too, ah, Tank and Accie… How the heck- Never mind- Oh wait. Tanek and Acacia Woolf. _My_ bad. Anyway, you can eat and whatever. And Hermes cabin is last pick for teams on Saturday because of your itchy stunt." He added. The Hermes cabin groaned while the Aphrodite and Apollo just stuck their tongues out. So, that little announcement was done with and I was surprised when a tree nearby shuddered and seemed to turn into a little girl, a nymph. I don't know how I knew that, but a nymph! She sauntered over, the rest of her tree buddies moving with her as they gave us our lunch. I was amazed. The meal was a range of fruits like grapes, apples, and strawberries to cheese, fresh, warm bread, and one of my favorites, barbeque! The glass in front of me was empty, much to my disappointment, but Cyril tapped my shoulder, pointing to it.

"Just talk to it." He told me. I looked at him like he was crazy, then looked at the glass. I waited a moment, then crinkled up my nose. I felt stupid as I stared at the glass.

"… Brazilian Coffee with French Vanilla creamer, four packets of sugar." Instantly, hot steaming coffee filled the glass and my eyes lit up. Beside me, I heard Tanek murmur a colorful way of saying 'no freaking way'. He looked at his glass and I grinned.

"Try it!" I insisted, then picked up the glass and took a huge gulp, sighing comfortably as the warm liquid pooled into my empty stomach. Tanek gave me a weird look, then looked back at his cup and shifted a bit uncomfortably. While kids were talking to their glasses, I was beginning to feel way more comfortable, I'm surprised Tanek wasn't. He just sighed, frustrated and shaking his head.

"All right, fine. I'll play along… Mountain Dew." He stated. The glass filled with that gross, pee-colored drink and Tanek's eyes widened.

"See?" I stated. He glanced at me, then back at the drink.

"Mountain Dew Code Red." The liquid inside turned a bright, foamy red and Tanek's eyes lit up. He seemed more excited than freaked out now as he took a big gulp, sighing with relief. After our plates were all ready, we were surprised to see people getting up and when I asked Conner, he said we had to give the gods' offerings. I was still confused, so Tanek and I followed closely behind Travis and Conner. People were picking off the ripest of fruits, juiciest scrap of meat, and warmest roll, tossing them into the fire pit at the center of the pavilion. I thought they were crazy until Travis nudged me and pointed to the fire.

"Just toss it in and say your parent's name." He said. I stared at him blankly and he just cracked a smile, picking a rib off his plate and tossing it in.

"Hermes!" He called proudly before doing a little spin and winking at me. I tried not to laugh. He was silly, seriously. I picked off a cluster of reddish purple grapes, thrusting them into the fire.

"Hermes." I stated and I felt good saying it. It felt right. It made me smile. I watched Tanek toss a rib into the fire, but my smile melted. Something about him looked uncomfortable, like he didn't want any of this to be real. He didn't say a word when he put a handful of ripe strawberries into the fire. As we walked back to our seats, I looked at Tanek worriedly.

"Tanek, are you still upset?" I asked. Tanek glanced at me, then away.

"I don't know. I really don't. I feel happy, but at the same time, it's like someone keeps telling me that it's too good to be true."

"Well, ignore that someone! We're here, aren't we? And we actually get to find out more about dad… Who knows, maybe we'll even meet him someday." I pointed out. Tanek stared at me. I couldn't tell if he was scared or so excited, he couldn't speak. I just smiled and we sat down to eat. Lunch was nice as we got some tips and pointers from the other members of our cabin. They named off all the campers here, including the children of the Big Three.

After lunch, Tanek and I met up with Taylor. She looked excited to see us and thrust her hand up for a high-five, which I returned. She took us to the cabins area, straight to the cabin of Zeus first. It was white columned and pretty fancy with lightening bolt streaks across it. Sitting on the steps was a sandy brown haired kid trying to thread a wire through a seashell, which only cracked. He huffed and dropped the things, resting his chin in his hands before he looked up with deep blue eyes. A smile whipped around across his face and reminded me almost of the one's Tanek had when he was up to something.

"Hey, Taylor! You brought the newbies! What's up? The name's Alex Hixon! Son of the big guy here." He pointed at thumb at the cabin behind him, cocking his head. Taylor laughed a little. I blinked in awe.

"Seriously? That's amazing! Have you met your dad before?" I had to ask. Alex shrugged a little, holding up a finger.

"One or twice." He admitted.

"Really? But, does he come down here to ask how you're doing or something?" I asked, confused. Tanek gave my shirt a tug, probably trying to tell me to quit being such a nosy brat. Alex smiled lightly as he got up.

"He doesn't have time." He replied. I opened my mouth to demand what kind of father didn't have time for his own kid, but Tanek cut me off.

"It's nice to meet you. I hope we'll be friends. It'll really help right about now." Tanek explained and he seemed to be faintly smiling. Alex beamed back.

"Sure! I know how it is, finding out the truth about your parents." His smiled seemed to falter a bit. Taylor sighed quietly, then smiled at us anyway, waving a hand at us.

"But, hey! We still have each other, so don't forget that. Our parents may be busy, but we sure aren't. Got a problem? We'll gladly help you guys." She winked and I broke into a smile, even Tanek seemed to crack a bit of a smile at that. I was already starting to feel better. Alex then joined us on our mission to meeting all of Taylor's friends. Our next stop was the cabin of Hades. Inside were two boys, only two, though. The first one was probably my age with shaggy black hair and dark eyes, he was flopped out on a bottom bunk with a black short sword laid across his chest. The other had platinum blonde hair with a bit of a grayish bluish tint to it, his stunning aqua green eyes studying a picture book for kids. Like one of those 'See Jane Run' things, but he didn't seem to be having luck reading it because he just slammed it shut, making the other boy jump. Taylor knocked on the doorframe, beaming.

"Nico! Nero! You've got company!" She yelled, making both boys jump this time. The boy on the bed rolled right off and the other one threw the book under another bunk bed, snapping his head up like a deer caught in headlights. Taylor grinned. The boy who had rolled off the bed groaned, pushing himself up and rubbing his head.

"Jeez, Taylor. Could you be a little louder? I don't think Zeus heard you."

"Oh, be quiet, Nico. Look! New campers! Acacia and Tanek." Taylor introduced, thrusting her hand toward my brother and I. I just smiled and waved a bit shyly, I mean, come on. They were pretty cute. Tanek didn't like that and I had a feeling he knew what I was thinking because he glared at me, then looked at the other two with a guarded expression.

"Yea, Mr. D mentioned something about them during lunch. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood." Nico greeted, shrugging as he picked up his fallen sword, sheathing it. Nero didn't say anything. In fact, he looked way nervous and wouldn't look directly at us. I wanted to ask what was wrong, but Alex spoke first.

"Mr. D sucks with names. I think he does it on purpose to make people mad." Alex replied with a confident nod. Nico rolled his eyes and Taylor scowled, punching him in the arm playfully.

"Hey, don't insult him or he'll turn you into a cat again." She stated. Alex blinked, then shivered a bit as if the very mention of the memory was terrible. Tanek blinked.

"Who IS Mr. D?" He asked.

"I thought it was obvious." Nico said dryly, getting elbowed by Nero, who just shushed him quietly. Alex grinned, thrusting a thumb out the door.

"Mr. D? I think you know him as Dionysus, God of Wine, Party, Madness. Ya know, all the good stuff that make people happy." He answered.

"Madness is happiness?" I asked, cocking a brow. Alex just grinned while Tanek seemed to ponder this new information. For a second, things seemed comfortable as we stood there to talk, but I hate to say it, Nero ruined it. His aqua green eyes locked on Tanek like he was a ghost or something.

"Say that again." He stated, his voice mature and sweet, kind of reminding me of smooth Lindor chocolate for some reason. Tanek stared at him, frowning.

"Say what?"

"The last thing you said."

"Who's Mr. D?"

"…" Nero frowned, folding his arms over his chest tightly. The expression on his face was nervous and uneasy. Nico frowned at him, resting his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"What? You act like you saw a ghost?"

"Haha, nice pun." Alex snickered. Nico rolled his eyes, ignoring him. Nero averted his eyes to the floor for a second, then shrugged.

"I don't know what it is, but I have this really bad feeling about you," He said, looking at Tanek again and making me frown, "Not like you in general, but something that's going to happen to you… Quite frankly, I suggest you don't go to sleep at all tonight. Not for a while at least."

"Why would you say that?" Tanek asked. Nero just shook his head. Nico sighed.

"You're just bent still on what happened to Roxie." He replied quietly. The name made Nero flinch like he'd been smacked. Taylor's and Alex's smile faltered too. I looked at Nico curiously.

"Roxie?" I asked. Nico nodded.

"Roxie Belle. She was a daughter of Prometheus, but she caused some trouble when she was here."

"What happened to her?"

"She… Died." I could tell he was lying. Especially by the way Nero scowled at him and whipped around, heading out of the cabin like he was insulted. I took it he was close to however this Roxie girl was. Taylor and Alex shifted uneasily.

"Nico, you should know better," Taylor said softly, "You know he's touchy about that subject."

"I'm sorry, but it's over and done with. Roxie made a mistake. It happens to a lot of demigods. I was her friend too, ya know. I'm pretty mad about what happened to her as the rest of you." Nico explained firmly. Tanek and I shared looks. I could tell he was nervous after what Nero said to him. I just hoped he didn't stay up all night like Nero said, because Tanek needed sleep, even if he did sleep all morning and night.

The rest of the tour was fun. I was thankful to find Jack in her cabin with only a bandaged up wrist and a gauze pad on her neck. When we sat down to talk while Taylor ran off to show Tanek the Ares cabin, I asked her about the barrettes.

"Max said they were made by Hermes himself for a daughter of his. Is that true?" I asked as I watched the other Aphrodite kids fix themselves up. Most of them were different Jack for sure. They were primped up and girly, even the guys! Jack seemed to be the only one dressed like a tomboy, which I still thought was pretty cool. It just meant she was unique.

"Yea," Jack answered as she flashed one of her siblings a glare for almost stepping on her outstretched foot, "They were given to me to give you to specially."

"What's so special about me? There's tons of smart girls in the Hermes cabin." I protested, although, that was a lie. In fact, most of the Hermes children were male and older than me too. There was only a handful of girls and they were definitely younger than me, the youngest being six, but she went home for spring break.

"I can't exactly tell you that," Jack sighed, resting the back of her head on a bedpost as she closed her eyes tightly, "The only one who can tell you is your dad, but knowing him, he might not even tell you…"

"Tell me what?"

"Of his prophecy."

"Prophecy?" I asked, confused. Jack opened her eyes, staring at me for a while and she looked a little sad as she sat forward, glancing around to make sure no one was listening before locking her eyes on me seriously.

"Acacia. Last year, there was a battle, a big one between the titans and the Olympians, the leader of the titans being the Titan Lord, Kronos. He took over a demigod's body. That demigod's name was Luke Castellan. Luke was one of Hermes' favorites and when Hermes found out, he was distraught because he knew it was going to happen. His wife was somewhat of an Oracle and she foretold her son's demise. What made things hard is that gods are not allowed to interfere with their children's lives. It's just against the Ancient Laws. Anyway, Luke died. He stabbed himself to get rid of Kronos, basically turning him into dust and scattering everywhere. Luke was a hero, but Hermes still hasn't forgotten him and after all that mess happened, Hermes received another prophecy from the Oracle. I can't tell you what the prophecy is because I was sworn to secrecy, but I'll tell you right now that Hermes is probably afraid of losing more of his children and I don't think he could handle losing anymore. Gods are immortal, but they still have feelings, just like everyone else." Jack finished and leaned back. I stared at her in disbelief, then looked down at my lap, nibbling on my lower lip nervously.

This was so much to take in. It was making me exhausted to learn all this new information, learning that apparently one of my half-brothers sacrificed himself to save everyone and making our dad basically suffer about it. I didn't know whether to be mad, amazed, grateful, or what. I was tempted to tell Tanek, but the way he was acting now, just trying to take in all of this, he might just go into overload and freak out. I only nodded to Jack, thanking her for the information before I left the cabin.

The rest of the day went by quickly, getting a schedule from Chiron and Tanek getting a bigger tour by Taylor and a friend he made from the Ares cabin named Eden. I went off mostly on my own, trying to figure things out. Soon enough, it was dinner time and I was sitting next to Tanek, but he seemed to be warming up, going back to his normal self. He was joking around with Conner and Travis, laughing about a trick they played on the Demeter cabin, something about Greek fire, whatever that was. That sandy-haired kid, Cyril, was fiddling with more spoons and I was beginning to think that he was pretty weird and made a mental note not to sit next to him tomorrow.

The camp fire was pretty entertaining and got my mind off things for a while. We sang silly songs in the amphitheater, joking and laughing. It felt warm and comforting, quite frankly, I didn't want to even think about leaving this place as I ate smores, sitting with my brother and new cabin mates; my other siblings. As soon as the camp fire songs ended, everyone departed for their cabins.

Tanek and I got our own bunk bed, me getting the top while he got the bottom. We set up our borrowed blankets and pillows. I rested down and got into the bag that Damon had packed for me. I was surprised to find a stuffed albino snake and it made me smile, remembering our pet snake back at home named Neon. I laid him out along my side and closed my eyes to sleep as the lights went out, the last of the members hopping into bed.

The night was nice and peaceful, but only for a short while because then, everything went wrong when Tanek screamed. I shot up first, gasping in shock and I heard other kids yelp and jump or roll out of bed in surprise. I grasped around blindly in the dark, almost falling down the ladder before I hit the floor, the lights snapping on. Tanek was thrashing around in his bed, throwing everything away from him; blankets, his bag, pillows, everything.

"Get it away from me! Get away!" He screamed. Panic fled up to my throat as a cry for help as Tanek seemed to be trying to hurt himself now, ramming his knuckles against the bedposts and drawing blood from them. Travis finally snapped out of his stupor and leapt forward, grabbing one of Tanek's wrists while Conner caught the other.

"Dude, Tanek, calm down!" Conner protested.

"What's going on? Why is he freaking out?" I cried as people seemed to be calling out for help amongst themselves. I looked at Tanek's face, but I was surprised to see his eyes wide open, not closed in sleep. They were almost glowing, literally as he jerked around and tried to twist away from Travis and Conner. Finally, we got Chiron in there and he knocked Tanek out. We stared at him and that's when I felt the tears wet on my face. I blinked a few times in surprise, then looked at Chiron.

"What happened to my brother?" I managed to ask shakily. Chiron grimaced as he ran a hand over Tanek's warm forehead, brushing back his reddish brown hair.

"It's time… I should've told you the moment I saw you two, but I was just hoping that it wasn't true. I'm sure your father was as well." I heard several campers gasp and I looked at him in confusion, then I remembered Jack telling me about the prophecy of Hermes and I stared at him.

"You mean the prophecy?" I asked. Chiron and the other campers stared at me in disbelief, probably wondering how I knew.

"How do you know about the prophecy?" A kid asked. Some other kids murmured under their breathes as well. I noticed some of them were starting to look concerned, worried, and even a little upset. Chiron shushed them, then looked at me for a while.

"The prophecy of Hermes. The prophecy must be told by whom it was given to, hence your father, but there is a small chance of him telling you, which means you may be running into a battle blindfolded. It's very dangerous." He added quietly. I frowned in annoyance, clenching my fists. I could feel a twitch starting under my eye. This was outrageous. A stupid prophecy that my dad won't even tell us about? Was that what Tanek had nightmares about? And yet, my dad doesn't care enough to at least give us a hint?

"This is ridiculous," I protested, "If it's so important, why won't he tell us? If he's a god, he shouldn't be scared of losing his kids. If you guys can make rare expensive coffee pop up in a glass, why can't you just bring your kids back to life?" People shifted uncomfortably and I got a few scowls from the older campers, probably them thinking of me as immature, but seriously. Wouldn't that make sense? Apparently not to Chiron because he shook his head, sighing.

"If only that were true, child, but it isn't so. To bring one back to life, you must exchange with another. I'm sure you've heard of the saying 'there's no such thing as a free lunch'?"

"That's stupid!" I insisted angrily. Chiron sighed as a couple campers agreed, some others muttering that it was too late to argue about this. When I glanced at a clock on the wall, I realized it was about three in the morning, but there was no way I could go back to sleep knowing about all this stuff.

"We'll discuss it in the morning after breakfast, until then, get some rest… If there's another episode, bring him to the Big House and we'll let him sleep in the guest room." Chiron explained softly. No one said anything, just nodded obediently. This was freaking stupid and I couldn't even say anything anymore as Chiron gave us a nod and departed, the sound of his hooves clomping away. I clenched my fists so tightly, my knuckles turned white and my teeth gritted. I was mad, annoyed, and confused. All that at the same time wasn't good. Conner put a hand on my shoulder, making me jump a little and look at him.

"There's nothing we can do now, Acacia. It's probably best we just get some sleep. I'm kind of freaked out too." He admitted. I stared at him for a while, then sighed miserably.

"And things looked like they were turning out better." I groaned and dropped my head in my heads. Conner gave my shoulder a squeeze.

"I'm sorry… Well, maybe if we just forget about this prophecy we won't have to worry about it?" Even as he said it, I knew he didn't believe a word of it. He was just trying to make me feel better and that made me a tad more happy, so I just nodded and everyone went off to bed, but I just sat on the bed beside Tanek, who was still knocked out. I laid down beside him and pulled the covers up to my chin, squeezing my eyes shut and trying to sleep, just a little bit.

It didn't work.

****

**A/N: Hmmm… I don't know what to say. I think most of it was pretty good, but for some reason, I feel like I rushed the ending :P Sorry xD I'm on Christmas vacation now, so hopefully I can update more often! Let's just hope my inspiration doesn't die on me. :( Well, I think that's about it. Thanks for reading, hope the characters are okay, and your reviews are greatly appreciated!**


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